These Stunning Hyperrealistic Paintings Of Nature Look Like Incredibly Detailed Photographs

An Jung-Hwan, a talented Korean artist, creates incredibly realistic paintings of nature depicting lush forests, serene meadows, and rugged mountains. Hyperrealism is a genre of painting and sculpture that looks a lot like a high-resolution photograph. Also, hyperrealism is considered an advancement of Photorealism by the methods used to create the resulting paintings or sculptures.

An Jung-Hwan’s portrayal of nature is so detailed and life-like that, at first, it can leave you sceptic about how the artist managed to pull it off, and then it compels you to take a closer look, just to make sure. While most artists use art as a form of escape from reality, hyperrealism artists are in a different category as they aim to blur the boundary that exists between art and reality. The artist chooses nature as his subject and his painstakingly perfectionist technique depicts textured tree bark, dappled sunlight, various shades of leafy canopy, and lush green grass as realistic as a photograph.

Scroll down to admire these breathtaking masterpieces, along with some inspirational nature quotes.

All photos credit: An Jung-Hwan

Born in 1978, An Jung-Hwan pursued his formal education in painting at Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea. There, the artist focused his creative practice on large-scale oil landscapes. “[Nature] gives a lot of benefits to mankind, such as fresh and clean air, [a] cool breeze…warm sunshine and clear water…and tranquility immersed in silence,” Jung-hwan explains on his Facebook page.

His series of paintings does not include any reference to human life, but instead showcase the wonders of nature, with a pristine and thriving environment. The artist draws inspiration from the diversity of landscapes in South Korea, and he is able to represent the serenity of these enchanting sceneries in his various large-scale oil paintings. To execute this degree of hyperrealism he is famous for, Jung-hwan devotes a considerable amount of time for his artwork. Indeed, he spends numerous weeks and countless hours working meticulously on a single painting, until he renders every element so naturally and impeccably.

“An understanding of the natural world and what’s in it is a source of not only a great curiosity, but great fulfillment.” — David Attenborough

“If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you’ll come to understand that you’re connected with everything.” — Alan Watts

“I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want.” — Andy Warhol

“In a world of constant change and streaming technology, I find solance in the forest where a tree remains a tree.” — Angie Weiland-Crosby

“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.” – Alice Walker

“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” — Rachel Carson

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” — Lao Tzu

“Just feel the magic in the air and the power in the breeze. Feel the energy of the plants, the bushes and the trees. Let yourself be surrounded by nature at its best. Calm yourself, focus and let magic do the rest.” — Sally Walker

“We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” — Native American proverb

“To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.” — Helen Keller

“For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.” — Jacques-Yves Cousteau

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” — John Ruskin

“Those who find beauty in all of nature will find themselves at one with the secrets of life itself.” — L. Wolfe Gilbert

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” — Rachel Carson

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy.’” — Sylvia Plath

“If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature’s way.” — Aristotle

“Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” —Hans Christian Andersen

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more”
— Lord Byron

To view more of An Jung-Hwan’s creations, check him out on his Instagram and Facebook

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